The Ultimate Weapon
by tihease
Summary: America is a dystopia where ghosts are the dominant forces, and humans are being put through what can only be a genocide. The resistors of the fiasco hear about a boy who has the power to turn from ghost to human. The only problem is..FULL SUMMARY INSIDE
1. Chapter 1

SUMMARY: America has become a dystopia where ghosts are the dominant forces, and humans are being put through what can only be called a genocide. The resistors of the fiasco hear about a boy who has the power to turn from ghost to human. With his powers they could get inside the ghost's society, overthrow the dictator, and return humans to their previous glory. The only problem is, they have the gain his trust first. And to do that, he has to fall in love. What better candidate for the ruse than Sam Manson?

* * *

><p><strong>So firstly I'd like to say that this story DOES contain OC's. But they're mostly minor characters (except for Elliot, who I tried not to turn into a Gary-Sue. He's still not the main point of the story though). Secondly, I didn't write much because I wanted to know if people were interested in the idea first. Thirdly, this is a slightly more mature story. If you can't handle character death or some minor cussing, I wouldn't recommend this story. Now go on and read!<br>**

The floor was spotless, she was sure. Absolutely spotless. She looked towards Gunther, one of the kinder ghosts, for approval. He waved his hand dismissively at her.

"Go," he flicked a quarter towards her. "Stay out of trouble, Samantha. I may not have forgotten what it was like to be human once, but the others surely have."

She was about to correct him, '_Sam. It's Sam,_' she would always say, but decided against it. Instead she picked up the quarter and scurried out of the house. Her breath fogged in the air as she walked along the sidewalk. America, once it had become overtaken with ghosts, became a tundra. She had no idea how the other parts of the world had fared. There was no TV, internet, newspaper. No way to possibly communicate with others outside of Amity Park, and that was just how the ghosts liked it.

In the beginning, she had assumed the putrid scent of burning flesh was due to all the homes that were being set ablaze. She quickly realized that burning was what ghosts smelled like. Ghosts enjoyed chaos. Much like humans, but magnified to a degree where they couldn't sit idly by and twiddle their thumbs and wait for the next big disaster to hit. Many innocent people, families, had become homeless, and died in a couple of days once their insides had completely froze over. The fires that were raging from Oakland to New York did nothing to help the extreme cold. Ghost Fire, as they all knew, burned unlike true fire. It disintegrated any flesh within a couple of miles of it.

Thousands were massacred in a radical attempt to bring up the ghost's numbers. It had worked, of course. Eventually everything slowed down to a dull hum as some returned to the Ghost Zone when they realized the conditions of the human world were less than desirable. Others persevered on, enslaving and torturing humans. Creating governments and changing the rules, turning towns and cities into alien wastelands.

If an official or officer – called Crudes by the humans - caught a person out on the streets, there was no rule preventing them from throwing them into a prison, capturing them, or killing them on spot. This thought made Sam quicken her pace. She thought bitterly back to the days before the ghost's arrival. The mayor had been conducting illegal experiments. News had been released of a possible portal that could lead into the "Ghost Zone". The mayor's intentions after the first few visits into the Ghost Zone had become clear, he wanted to blow it up. Whatever he saw in that world, he did not want coming into theirs. But his good intentions turned sour when the ghosts crossed through the portals and began their rampages. _You thought you could destroy us? _They were trying to say. _Well take this, and that, and this!_

Vlad Masters had promptly disappeared. Naturally, it was assumed he had been killed. By humans or by ghosts, it wasn't clear.

Sam stopped out a manhole, looked left and right for cover, and pulled the lid off effortlessly. The underside of it had a five-point star drawn on with white chalk. It was already beginning to fade, so Sam took some chalk out of her pocket and quickly retraced the lines, then jumped into the hole. She dropped into a dark cavern. It smelled like dirty water and waste, but it was clear of the smell of anything burning. It was completely silent except for the dripping sound that lay somewhere in the distance. She walked towards a faint light that lay at the end of the tunnel. It grew brighter and bigger until she was standing right in front of it, the voices of her friends filling the air.

"Sam," someone said, running up to her. "Where the hell have you been? We thought a Crude got you."

"Sorry, Val," she said, taking the quarter out of her pocket and tossing it to the girl. "Just trying to support the resistance. Food is more of a necessity than artillery, you know."

"It's pointless," sad Valerie, shaking her head. "Money has no meaning anymore. Food production has come to almost a complete stop. Ghosts don't need-"

"Ghosts don't need food," interrupted Sam. "I know, I know. But they have to keep us alive. Who would they push around otherwise?"

Valerie growled deep in her throat, tossing the quarter into the air. "I swear, if I hated ghosts before, I'm about ready to side with Masters on the whole blow them all up thing now."

Sam shook her head and took her boots off. Their hideout was a huge concrete circle that lay below ground. It was dry and safe and sometimes even warm, better than the conditions above ground. Unrecognizable symbols were drawn on the walls with spray paint. Elliot, the son of a historian, had been the artist. He stood playing pool with Dash Baxter and Kwan Park.

"_They're supposed to keep out ghosts, evil_," he had said. That hadn't been tested due to the fact that their secret hideout was still, in fact, a secret.

Dash and Kwan groaned as he won another game. "Don't be sore losers now, boys. A deal is a deal."

It was common custom for whoever lost the pool game to go hunting. It wasn't literal prey hunting. There were woods on the outskirts of Amity, but it took an hour to get to them, and by then you'd have wasted all your energy. The deer and game in that area had been hunted to the brink of extinction anyway. All that was left there was rodents and insects. It was a last resort.

The job of the hunter was to wander around town, look into trashcans and beg when possible. Usually one would be able to come up with a few scraps of food, not enough to feed a group of six, but enough to get by. It was a gruesome job that involved late hours and the imminent danger of being taken by a Crude, and even then your only reward would be a cat carcass and a few scraps of rotten bread.

"He's got to be cheating," said Kwan to Dash, not too quietly. While they bickered over trivial things, Elliot walked up to Sam and grabbed her waist.

"Hello there, sunshine. Care for our last scraps of rat?" a Scottish accent laced his words, and he smiled brightly at her.

Sam grimaced and pushed him away.

"What's with him?" asked Sam to no one in particular. Paulina, who was on the couch examining her nails, answered.

"He thinks he's figured out a way to drive the ghosts back, it's ridiculous. The stupidest thing I've ever heard. Ever."

"Oh don't be like that, princess. Just because you're void of all hope doesn't mean the rest of us have to be."

Sam joined Paulina and Valerie on the couch. She couldn't remember the last time she had worn nothing but a skirt and a tank top. Nowadays she was covered head to toe in layers. The only part of her past that remained with her were combat boots. She even had to let go of her vegetarian life-style in order to survive in the new world, the one thing she was always passionate about. She sunk deeper into the couch with these thoughts, as if they weighed her down.

"So, what is it?" she asked. "The idea, I mean."

"I was out in town, right?" he crossed his arms and leaned back on the pool table. Kwan and Dash were both now standing by the couch, intrigued by the conversation. "I was heading towards my dad's old study, because I figured maybe he had some more books on ghosts in there. To get to the damn place, I had to cross an alleyway that led to the other side of the street. That's when I see these Crudes, peeling the skin off a kid for shits and giggles. I was about to head back, because there was really nothing I could do, when the Crudes are attacked. It was like a scene from Spiderman. He dropped out of the sky, started blasting them so hard they ran away with their arses still smoking, and helped the kid onto his feet. The little guy ran away, probably traumatized for life. I don't think the other lad saw me because he leaned against a wall. Then there was a flash of light, and a human lad stood in his place-a human lad! He went from ghost, spooky creepy ghost, to human! Do you have any idea what that means? Do you bunch of dopes have any idea what that _implies_?"

There was silence for the longest time. Even the drip drop of water that Sam had heard earlier was gone. Then, simultaneously, everyone erupted into laughter.

"You never told _us_ that story," gasped Valerie, her voice the highest Sam had ever heard it. They were all laughing as if it were the first and last time they would in ages. Except for Elliot, who still stood with his arms crossed, eyebrow raised.

"I'm not lyin'. And I sure as hell didn't imagine anything."

"You sure you don't want that bit of rat?" asked Sam. "I think you need it more than I do."

"You have to admit, bro, that's a pretty ridiculous story," said Dash.

"No, _bro_. Enlighten me on what's so darn ridiculous about it."

The sober expression on Elliot's face made Sam stop laughing. The candles that were positioned around the room – if you could call it that – were beginning to die. The shadows that were being cast on Elliot's face made a shiver ran up Sam's spine. The usual bright-eyed, sandy brown haired boy was gone. The light dust of freckles under his eyes made him look more sullen.

"Elliot," Sam said. "You just have to understand, under our circumstances, it's not good for us to be hopeful. The idea of someone who can go from human to ghost isn't just ridiculous... it's impossible. You can't be both dead and alive."

"Think what you will. I know what I saw, and now I'm going to sleep."

Elliot nestled into his cot in the corner of the room and drifted off to sleep. While he dozed, there was talk amongst the other five.

"What if he's evil?" said Valerie. They sat in a circle on the floor, a deck of cards between them. They played absentmindedly, more focused on the conversation.

"You're talking as if he exists," said Sam.

"He could. I mean, crazier things have happened, right?"

"If you're going to think like that," said Kwan "then big-foot exists and he routinely has tea parties with human-ghost hybrids that go around saving little kids."

There was a half-hearted chuckle.

"You and Kwan should look for him tomorrow," said Paulina. "You two have nothing better to do anyway."

Dash and Kwan rolled their eyes. "Because we want to be walking around in the cold longer than we have to. Sure thing, Paulina."

"Just – If you say anything, let us know, okay?"

"Of course."

"Maybe we should ask Tucker Foley to track him down for us," laughed Sam. "I remember that kid could track a bird from here to Japan with nothing but a GPA."

"You were good friends with him, weren't you?" Paulina grimaced "He was always hitting on me and Star."

Valerie nodded in agreement. "That kid was suborn, I'll tell you that much. What happened to him?"

Sam shrugged and threw down a card. "Disappeared is the best way to describe it. Like most people, I just never saw him again."

Then they were talking about the old times, of people they used to know and theories of what happened to them. The employees at Nasty Burger, people they would see wandering down the hallways, their teachers, the eccentric Fentons, everything and everyone and they basked in the sweet nostalgia of it all.

"What about Elliot?" asked Sam. "I don't think I ever saw him around town."

"I think he was studying abroad for a couple of months with his dad before the disaster," said Valerie. "Poor guy should have just stayed in Scotland."

There was a groan from the cot. "You know, it's rude to talk about people behind their backs. Why are you all still up? It's about six in the mornin'."

"How do you know?" asked Dash.

"I have the best internal clock of any man dead or alive, mate," he said, sitting up and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He stood up and grabbed his jacket. "I'm headin' out to the woods. If you're not all dead from your little all nighter, then feel free to join."

"Now that you mention it," said Valerie, yawning and laying back down on the floor. "I'm beat."

The rest naturally agreed, shuffling and settling down for sleep. Down in the dark sewers of Amity, night and day was subjectable. Candles on? It's day time. Candles off? Time to go to sleep. But Sam had to know...

"Why the woods? If you're going to be looking for food, then Dash and Kwan are supposed-"

He shook his head. "It's not that, love. I'm going to be looking for someone is all."

"So we're playing the pet names game now? It's quite condescending, darling, if I do say so myself," she crossed her arms. "And don't tell me, searching for our mysterious ghost boy? Why the woods?"

"Well," he smiled and pushed his hair back "I like pet names better than "Sam". It's a bit repetitive, sweetheart. Oh and, call it a hunch. I don't think he'd hang around in a heavily populated area. It's become a mission of mine to make the lot of you eat your words."

Sam scrunched up her face. "You egotistical, stubborn, _stubborn_, annoying idiot! You're wasting your time. You're not going to find him!"

Elliot whistled and smiled, stuffing his hands into his coat pockets. "Just watch me."

He walked out and into the main sewer, his footsteps growing fainter and fainter until the sound of the manhole being lifted signaled his exit. Sam sighed and slumped down against a wall. The bit of untouched rat sat in the corner, flies buzzing around the burnt flesh. Oh, what she wouldn't give for a hamburger. If she got the chance to, she would never dismiss the opportunity ever again. She hadn't noticed she was gradually falling deeper and deeper into sleep, and before she knew it, she was being shaken awake.

"Sam, Samantha! Wake up, you lazy arse. Guess what?"

She opened bleary eyes to Elliot standing above her. Green eyes alert and a smile so bright it seemed almost contagious.

"What're you so happy about?" then she remembered. "Urgh, you found him, didn't you? Get out of my face."

Elliot scoffed and stood back. "No, I didn't find him. I found something better," he took a step sideways, revealing a deer carcass. "But I'm not sharing with you. Mean people don't deserve deer."

"You big baby," she yawned and sat up a bit, then practically jumped up when she processed what he had said. "I could almost _kiss _you!"

A pillow was chugged in their direction. "Get a room and let us sleep!" screamed Paulina.

Sam ignored her, far too excited to care. "How? You practically just ordered steak off a menu of that consists of chicken nuggets. How did you even manage to drag the thing this far without collapsing or getting mugged? Elliot, you're becoming a useful addition to the resistance!"

He raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, never mind the fact that I've kept us alive so far," he pointed at the symbols etched on the walls "and kept us from being found. Also, for goodness sake, can we _please _come up with a plan?"

"I thought we had a plan. Find your ghost kid."

"Yeah, well, we need another one. Just in case."

"Later," she said, pushing him aside. "First, we feast."

And once everyone else woke up, feast they did. It turns out that Elliot hadn't actually hunted the deer, but found it. It was still bleeding when he did, so it had been a fresh kill. Whoever had left it behind was obviously well fed because everyone Elliot knew would fight to the death for a deer. Even then, as ghosts, they probably would be reluctant to leave it behind. The transportation part had been a bit more difficult. Long story short, it had been through sheer perseverance and luck that Elliot had managed to drag it as far as he did without getting caught. Everyone agreed on giving him the best and biggest pieces.

"So, about that plan," said Valery, roasting the last bit of meat over the fire. "What've we got?"

"Let's gather what we know first," said Sam. "Plasmius is our aim, correct? Kill the ghost, their society crumbles. Ghosts can't think for themselves and maintain order and chaos as well as they have been so far. Kill their voice of instruction, kill their intelligence, and the rest goes from there."

Plasmius had become their dictator once the initial wave of ghost influx had ended. How he rose to power and managed to maintain it was a mystery. Most ghosts were stupid fickle creatures, but they didn't like being told what to do. She herself had never seen Plasmius, just heard rumors. He was described as a giant, with spiky hair and dead skin. Eyes that looked like they led to hell itself and a voice like roaring thunder. He did not sound pleasant, in the least.

"Right," said Elliot. She cringed as he poked a bit of meat out from between his teeth. Her love hate relationship with meat would never end, she thought.

"But the issues at hand are how the hell do we get close enough to the guy? And then, how do you kill a ghost?"

Dash groaned. "One step at a time you guys, one step at a time."

"Wouldn't want overuse your brain," laughed Kwan.

"Shut up, Park."

"You shut up, Baxter."

"Cut it out, you neanderthals," snapped Valerie.

"Anyway," sighed Paulina, leaning back against the couch. "Maybe we could, like... What if we became ghosts? Then we could walk around wherever, do whatever, you know!"

Valerie gave Paulina a disgusted look. "No, you idiot. We have to stay human, no matter what it takes. This is about them against us. Who's the bigger baddie."

Paulina huffed. "Well, what if we hire some ghosts to help us?"

Elliot shook his head. "Don't think for a single second that they wouldn't rat us out."

"Well, then..." Paulina crossed her arms and pouted "I don't know."

"I'm going back tomorrow, to the woods," said Elliot. "And for the love of God, be productive yeah? Don't just sit around and wait for papa Elliot to bring home the chicken."

Dash groaned and rubbed his stomach.

"Deer is nice and all, but what I wouldn't give for chicken."

"_Fried_ chicken," muttered Kwan soulfully, his eyebrows hitched in a pathetic expression.

Elliot rubbed the bridge of his nose.

In the early morning, once everyone was asleep, he once again set out for the forest. He had read books on hunting when he was younger, since there really was nothing better to do in the green country side where he had grown up. His father always pressed the importance on reading books you don't enjoy, since those would become the most valuable. It turned out to be true. He would walk in the direction that the birds flew away from, pay attention to the dark or worn out spots on trees, use every sense seperatley. It would usually lead him to an animal carcass. Not a deer, but a possum or raccoon and those were just as good. He could never manage to hunt down the object of his desires though. Although he could smell burning on the surrounding trees and sometimes the dead animals themselves, and his body would be racked with chills and goosebumps the way it always did when he was around ghosts.

On the fifth day of going to the forest, he stumbled on a PDA. It was broken beyond repair, pieces of grass sticking out from the cracks in the screen, but he pocketed it. He didn't notice the shadow that trailed him once he began walking home. He pulled the manhole lid off, dropped into it like he did every day, and was greeted with pats on the back and a fire to roast his latest "catch" on.

Dinner that night was solemn, no one talked much. The fire that popped and cackled between them was all anyone listened to. Finally, Sam decided to break the silence.

"Your father's study," said Sam. "You were trying to see if there were any books on killing ghosts, weren't you?"

"Yeah," he said "Exactly."

"I'm thinking maybe we should go tomorrow, there might be something useful. Forget the ghostboy for a little while."

He shook his head. "His study is on the other side of town. It's far more populated. Besides, I feel like I'm getting really close. This is more important right now," he took out the PDA and dropped it at their feet.

"A PDA?" said Valerie. "What would a ghost want with a PDA?"

"I don't know, but at least this means that someone _is _living with in the woods. So-"

There was a loud knock, then the sound of the manhole lid being opened and flinged. They were still for a moment, then they were all scrambling and grabbing weapons. Bats, crowbars, even screwdrivers that they had laying around. Footsteps steadily approached their hideout, the sound of water splashing on boots, then a _woosh_.

Elliot didn't feel himself drop his bat. At the entrance stood a ghost, clad in a white and black jumpsuit, his hair a silver halo and his eyes glowing like the insides of a firefly. He was surprised to see his hands up against the entrance, like he was placing them on glass, unable to pass through. Elliot's runes had worked. He'd be lying if he'd said he though they would. What startled him most though was the expression in the ghost's eyes. Rage.

"That's him," he mumbled. "That's the ghostboy."


	2. Chapter 2

**In case someone hasn't figured it out, I combined the last two chapters into one. And this story will be updated fairly frequently since I'm going to try and write a chapter every day. ****It's practice for my future novel, not a big project, so it'll be fairly short too. 20 chapters at most. **

The first thing Danny noticed was that there were six of them. Three boys and three girls, all carrying harmless objects that wouldn't be able to bludgeon a bear cub. The second, that he couldn't get inside. He felt the entrance for glass or plastic, but the only thing he could sense was similar to a current. Like the electricity of a ghost trap, but far more mild. The entrance for the cave-like structure was wide enough to fit ten men. Inside, it was a cavernous dome of cement filled with different types of furniture. Two bunk beds and two couches, a pool table, a pile of fire wood at the center.

The faces were all of people he recognized, at one point or another he had passed them in the halls at school. The foreign one with light brown hair and freckles he recognized only from Tucker's description. A look of awe was planted on his face, his weapon clattered to the floor.

"That's him," he heard through the wall of energy, his voice sounding faint and far away. "That's the ghostboy."

He didn't feel himself push at the force field, only noticing what he was doing when it popped and crackled. For almost a week now, that boy had been taking Tucker's catches. Tucker being too much of a chicken to confront the boy had came to him for help.

"_Here's an idea. How about you stand your ground, Tucker?"_

_Danny jumped down from the tree he was perched on and put a hand on Tucker's shoulder, noticing it was bonier than usual._

"_My god Tuck, have you eaten **at all** this week?"_

_Tucker stammered and pushed Danny's hand off his shoulder, scowling._

"_Yes! Berries are just as good a food as meat."_

_Danny raised an eyebrow, his mouth curling into a smirk._

"_You? Living off berries for a week?"_

_The other boy crossed his arms, a defiant scowl on his face. It was just as much as a low-blow for a carnivore to admit they'd strayed from their diet as it was for a vegetarian._

"_Just get the guy to stop stealing my catches, Danny. I caught a deer I was going to share between us. I heard him coming, thought maybe it was a Crude. I figured if it wasn't, he wouldn't be able to carry the thing back to town anyway."_

"_And did he?"_

_Tucker shrugged. "Maybe. Kinda. Yeah, yeah he did."_

_Danny laughed. "I can't keep babying you like this, Tuck."_

"_I'm not the one with the super-human ghost powers!"_

The boy walked up to the force field, keeping a safe distance away from Danny.

"Promise you won't hurt me or my friends, and I'll tell you how to pass through."

Danny glared, showing his dislike of the whole situation. He was supposed to get in, make a show, and leave.

"I promise," he mumbled under his breath.

Elliot cupped a hand around his ear, leaning in towards Danny.

"I can't _heaaar_ you," he said in a sing-song voice. His accent, obviously Scottish, grated Danny's nerves.

"I said I promise," he mumbled again, a little bit louder this time.

"Turn human."

Danny reeled backwards, confused by the game the other boy was trying to play. Was it a demand, a test, or did he know?

"What? What are you talking about?"

Elliot sighed the way parents sigh when their kids don't listen to them.

"You have to turn human to pass through."

"I-what are you _talking_ about?"

"Save it," his voice was flat, as if he were bored with the whole situation. "I saw you transform in an alleyway. Somehow, you're both human and ghost."

Danny looked towards the others. Their faces were pail and unresponsive. So he did what Elliot said would let him pass through. He forced his heart to beat, the life began to circulate through his veins, and in a flash of light, he became mortal. He didn't think it was possible, but their faces looked even more pail.

Slowly, as if he didn't believe it would work, he passed a leg through the entrance. Then he took another step, and was standing inside the dome. Clammy sallow faces looked at him as if her were the antichrist.

"Danny Fen-_turd_?"

Dash Baxter. His stomach turned when he looked on at the people from his past. Back when everything was normal and he was just an ordinary freshmen struggling to get noticed in the midst of people far more attractive than him and far more popular, Dash Baxter had been one of them.

"Figures you'd be the ones who'd steal a man's own catch."

Elliot sputtered. "I was stealing from _you_? Oh, oh man-"

"You weren't stealing from me, but a close friend. Now if you don't want trouble, I suggest you learn to hunt for yourselves."

He turned to leave, figuring he'd made his point, when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Wait."

He turned around to amethyst eyes and hair that fell in a sharp-cut bob. Samantha Manson.

"Danny Fenton, right? This whole thing is just a big misunderstanding."

She paused and waited for him to reply, but when he just looked at her expectantly, she continued.

"This might sound kind of weird, but we were really looking for _you_. Elliot just happened to stumble upon your friend's catches, and after spending months living off rodent carcasses, you'd steal from anyone."

Danny took a step backwards, gruesome scenarios already popping into his head. "Looking for me, why?"

Elliot laughed awkwardly. "We thought maybe you could help us overthrow Plasmius."

Danny, obviously thinking the other boy was playing some type of joke, starting chuckling. The notion of him - who'd never stood up to even his high school bullies - battling Plasmius made him break down into a frenzy of laughter.

"You're kidding me, right?"

"No, not exactly. Not being able to walk down the street without the threat of being tortured isn't something I'd joke about."

"Sorry. I can't help you."

"Can't? Or won't?" asked Valerie.

"Can't," he reiterated. "There are ghosts far more powerful than me working for Plasmius. I may be half-dead, but I'm not suicidal."

Valerie scoffed and rolled her eyes. Despite her attempt at biting her tongue, Danny could feel her unease rolling off her in waves. "Just like a ghost. Always putting themselves first."

"I haven't seen you being especially self-less lately, Gray."

"When were you planning on telling the school you're a half-dead corpse?"

Kwan clapped a hand over Valerie's mouth before she could say any more.

"Do you really want to keep living like this? Hiding, living in the woods, having to hunt for food? _Help us_, and we'll do our best to help you."

Sam clasped her hands together, knowing that his next words would either make or break any hope they had of a revolution.

"I can't help you," he said. "And I don't think I want to, either. I'm sorry."

He walked past Elliot and through the entrance into the sewers, and Elliot made no move to stop him. Once he was gone, he turned towards Sam.

"I didn't know you knew him," he said.

Sam shook her head and sat down on the couch, next to Paulina who had somehow managed to fall asleep.

"I didn't. I would just see him talk to Tucker Foley sometimes. Friends by association."

"That didn't go as planned," sighed Dash.

"It's all fine and dandy," said Elliot. "I have a plan. A long-term one, but one that I think might actually work."

Sam laughed because none of Elliot's plans ever worked. On the other hand, a plan that didn't work was better than no plan at all.

"What is it this time?"

"Make the ghostboy – I mean Danny – _want_ to help us. He wouldn't want to raise children in a totalitarian environment ruled by ghosts."

"What are you getting at?" said Valerie dryly.

"He needs to fall in love with someone."

If Sam were drinking anything, she would have surely sputtered on it.

"Are you insane? Or are you just joking?"

"Why do people keep asking me that? I never joke."

"I can't see how making him fall in love would fix anything, Elliot," said Kwan.

"Wouldn't you do anything for the person you love? _Anything_? It's the curse of man, Kwan buddy. We're all about self preservation, and then a pretty girl comes along, and suddenly they're the only reason we wake up in the morning."

"I...guess."

"So who's going to be the lucky gal, hm?"

He looked towards Valerie, but she crinkled her face in disgust.

"No. No way."

Elliot shrugged and turns toward Paulina. Her only response was a line of drool that dribbled down her mouth, a soft snort as she turned onto her back. Before Elliot even turned towards her, Sam was already shaking her head.

"Oh come on, Sam. This is the future of humanity we're talking about. You can't just seduce _one guy_ for us? He knows you the best, after all."

Sam sighed.

"Are you sure this will work?"

"Positive."

Sam was completely against using people for personal reasons, even if it were for a greater good. Danny was no exception, and even though she didn't want to fall in love with him, she hoped that he didn't end up either dead or heart-broken. Later, it was planned that Sam would walk to the woods the following morning. She would be "attacked" by a wild animal, and Danny would promptly save her. Standard damsel in distress, standard hero suddenly stricken with love sickness.


	3. Chapter 3

**So, I TOTALLY didn't realize that when I named Elliot, it was also the name of the "Bulgarian exchange student" who almost went out with Sam. It's weird, because it sort of foreshadows the reason why I came up with him in the first place. Ahem Ahem. Anyway...**

A pointy part of the branch he was sleeping dug into his shoulder as he shifted, what sounded like a sharp whistle stirred him from his slumber. Then as the fog slowly began to clear, his mind gaining some clarity, he heard it again. Except it wasn't a whistle, it was a scream. He sat up so abruptly the branch creaked under his weight. He strained his ears. There it was again. Sharp and clear and obviously female. His body reacted before he could, illuminating the night as he turned into a ghost. His first thought was that it was his sister, Jazz. He quickly realized that that was impossible, and it felt like he was being punched in the gut as he took to the air and began whizzing past trees and foliage. Leaves caught in his hair, branches scraped at his arms and the night was alive again as the wind whizzed in his ears and crickets chirped their melodies. Maybe it was utterly impossible, and maybe he was wishing on dead stars, but maybe Jazz was alive.

He crashed into a branch in his haste and tumbled into a clearing.

"Jazz?" he whispered so faintly it sounded like a breath of air.

Something caught his eye, the moon glinting on a piece of metal buried in a bush. He realized it was the buckle of a boot. He crawled over to it, not wanting to stand up, and yanked it out. He wasn't surprised to see that it wasn't something Jazz would wear. Someone moaned beyond the bush and he peeked over it to see a slim figure laying on the ground face down. She looked up at him, seemed to realize he was there, and quickly lay her head back down.

"Ow. My leg. I think I broke it," she mumbled into the wet grass. Something seemed to fly out of the bushes and hit her, but it looked like a month to Danny.

"I mean, _ow_, my leg! I think I broke it!"

He rubbed the back of his neck uncertainly. "You okay?"

She sat up and looked at him, and Danny realized who it was. Sam Manson.

"I broke my leg. Why would I be okay?"

He scowled and reeled backwards. "Excuse me for trying to be polite. What are you doing out here, Sam?"

_Crap_, she thought, not having thought far ahead enough. _Improvise, Sam, improvise._

"I was...hunting. To pay you back, cause uh, y'know – I felt bad about the whole stealing your food thing... then I got attacked by a boar."

"I didn't know they had boar out here," he smirked.

"Well, now you know. Help me up."

He crossed over to wear she was sitting and crouched down beside her.

"Which foot is it? Maybe I can help," he put a hand on her ankle, but she pushed him away.

"No! I mean, uh, just take me home. Valerie will take care of it."

He shrugged, and Sam expected him to help her to her feet and throw her arm around his shoulder, but instead he picked her up bridal style. Then she was looking up at the night sky, the branches steadily growing bigger and bigger.

"Are we flying?" she screeched, pushing him away but he had expected it and held her to him firmly. She looked down and her stomach jumped to her throat. She had never been one to be afraid of heights, but this was something entirely different. She mentally cursed Elliot and his idiot plans and compromised to get him back later.

"Relax," he said, his voice sounding oddly soft. "I won't drop you."

"What if you do?" she asked, panic creeping into her voice. "How do I know you're not just going to drop me to get me off your hands?"

"You don't," was his simple response.

Despite every nerve in her body jumping and burning, she took a deep breath, and forced herself to relax. Ghosts didn't need lights and electricity, they were perfectly fine living in the dark, and for that the stars shone to their full potential every night. Sam never had the time to admire them, being inside most of the time. She thought that the sky looked especially beautiful that night though. Maybe because she was whizzing past them like they were millions of fireflies, clustered and glowing and tangoing around each other. It was breath taking.

She looked up at Danny. His ghostly glow was intensified against the blackness of the sky, and up close, she could see faint streaks of blue mixed in with his neon green. She once again cursed Elliot, faintly this time, not sure if she really meant it or not.

"We're here," he said, landing by the manhole and placing her gently on the ground sooner than she wanted him to. "Wasn't so bad now, was it?"

She opened her mouth to speak, but found that she had forgotten how to. "We need to do that again," she croaked. He didn't respond, instead grabbed her by the waist and dropped into the hole.

"Can you stand?" he asked once they were in the darkness of the underground. The light of the moon managed to filter in through the uncovered hole, dancing on Danny's silver hair as if it were a halo.

"Yeah," she mumbled, wrapping her arm around his shoulder. She suddenly felt queasy. What was she doing? How could she possibly manage to make him fall in love with her, so deeply that he would sacrifice his own life? She was so plain and unfeminine, no one spectacular, not funny or smart. She was just Sam Mansion- previous goth Ultra-Recyclo Vegetarian with a knack for sarcasm. Somehow, in that moment, Danny Fenton – geeky, clumsy, awkward Danny Fenton – seemed like he was other worldly. And there she was, about to sign his death certificate.

She wanted to tell him to go back, to run to the woods where he would be safe from her and her friends, but her subconscious did just the opposite. She leaned into him, feeling his burning cool through her jacket, and she yawned.

The candlelight of their hideout jolted her back to reality. Elliot greeted her at the entrance, leaning against the wall.

"You're going to be okay from now on, right? I can't get through the wards."

Sam nodded. "Yeah-" she suddenly looked towards Elliot, who was giving her a look "I mean, no. Stay, please?"

Danny's brows crinkled. He looked confused.

"Tucker, my friend, will wonder where I've gone if-"

"Just stay the night," she said, hopping over to where Elliot was waiting. "Really, none of us mind. You seem like you could use a nice warm bed instead of a tree branch. It's the least I could do."

He laughed awkwardly and crossed his arms, taking a step backwards. "It was no problem, Sam. You don't owe me anything."

"Oh, c'mon," said Elliot, throwing his hands in the air. "Let the girl make some new friends! I'm Elliot, by the way. I don't believe we've met."

"We have," said Danny dryly. He turned human and passed through the entrance, looking around. Sam and Elliot went ahead to where Valerie was sitting, leaving Danny to look at the big cavern that he would call home for a night.

"So, it worked?" said Valerie, sitting up and looking from Elliot to Sam.

"It worked, alright," Elliot said. "Sammy over here is stringing him along like a fish on a hook."

Sam sighed. "I'd prefer it if you didn't have to use that expression. You did throw me out of a tree, after all."

Elliot smirked and plopped down next to Valerie, putting his hands behind his head.

"I told you we had to make it seem real, didn't I?"

"I could have _actually_ broken something."

"But you didn't! That's the beauty of it."

"Whatever, idiot. I mean – Elliot."

"Very funny Sam, very funny."

"Bandage my leg for me, Val? We have to make it seem _real_."

Valerie laughed and got up from the couch, giving her spot to Sam.

"I'll go get the kit."

Danny looked around, feeling like he was back in the halls of Casper High. While everyone had somewhere to go, someone to talk to, he stood awkwardly by a corner and watched. He suddenly regretted his decision to stay when he heard someone call his name. Dash Baxter and Kwan Park were playing pool with Paulina. Kwan was waving him over while Paulina stared uninterested at the ground. He had to remind himself that he wasn't in school anymore, there was no such thing as "popular". He walked over to where they were standing.

"You ever play pool before, Fenton?" asked Dash.

"Not really, no."

"Well, you're on my team, so I hope you're a quick learner. You're supposed to use this thing," he banged his pool cue on the floor "to get these things," he pointed towards the balls "into that," he nodded his head towards the holes in the four corners of the table. "Got it?"

"Got it."

"Good."

Dash passed him a stick, and they started playing. By the end of the game, Dash and Danny were down to the cue ball. Danny had of course enlisted some help from his ghost powers. Every time Paulina or Kwan managed to sink a ball, he turned his hand intangible and pulled it back out when they weren't looking. He wondered how it was possible that they didn't find anything weird about the fact that the number of their balls didn't seem to go down.

Dash sunk the cue ball and looked at Danny triumphantly.

"Nice work, Fenton."

"So what do we win?" he asked. "Money, food?"

Dash patted him on the shoulder. "You get to relax while Kwan and 'Lina here go find food tomorrow. Every since we stopped, uh, borrowing your catches, we've had to revert back to the old way of finding food. Dumpsters and alleyways."

Danny frowned. "Doesn't sound too appetizing."

"Well, that's life. Unless you want to volunteer," said Kwan. Danny shook his head.

"Lights out," said Paulina, dragging her feet towards one of the bunk beds. "I'm beat."

Eventually, one by one, everyone settled in once the candles were blown out. It was like an automatic response, Danny realized. He lay on the cold stone floor, looking up at blackness before his eyelids and listening to the silence that made his ears wring. He couldn't hear anyone breathing, shuffling, snoring, nothing that signaled he was anywhere but a vast nothingness. He didn't know how much time passed before he heard something.

"Not tired?"

He froze.

"How can you tell? It's pitch black."

It was Sam. "People's breathing always sounds calmer when they're asleep, more rhythmic. Your breathing sounds normal."

"Oh," another moment passed before he knew what to say. "It's the sky. I'm used to looking at the sky when I'm falling asleep. It feels weird, being under a roof."

He heard Sam shift in her bed, probably turning on her side so she could talk to him directly. He sat up. No use pretending he was asleep.

"What happened to your family? I'm sure you had one, I mean, everyone here had a family at one point."

Danny hesitated. He had never talked to anyone but Tucker about what happened, and he didn't know Sam well enough to trust her, but for some reason the words dripped out of his mouth as if he were trying to hold water in the palm of his hand.

"My parents were ghost hunters. They'd been interested in the paranormal since college. Vlad Masters was their colleague and friend. One day, I came home from school, and they weren't home. I found a note from my sister hidden in my sock drawer. One word was scribbled on it, one name. _Vlad_. I think Plasmius took them because they knew Vlad, I think they're either in prison or-or worse. They took anyone with any relation to him, you know, anyone with any way of figuring out how to rise against Plasmius. I keep imagining my family, cold and hungry and being tortured. And I can't do anything. My parents were the kindest people in the world, never hurt anyone-"

His voice hitched and he didn't think he could explain any more. "I can't _do _anything."

The silence stretched on, and Danny thought that maybe Sam had fallen asleep again.

"I'm sorry, Danny. If I could do anything, believe me, I would."

Danny shook his head even though she couldn't see him.

"I don't even know if they're alive. I just want some sort of closure, you know? I don't want to keep hoping that maybe one day they'll walk into my life and everything will be okay again. I can't even grieve. Plasmius won't even give me that much."

She saw an opening, a way to wrap Danny around her finger the way Elliot would have wanted, and she took it.

"I think they're alive," she said. "I mean, think about it. They're way too valuable. Ghost hunters who once knew Vlad Masters? He wouldn't kill them, they'd have information."

"Maybe," said Danny, after considering it. "It hardly matters. The type of security they have in their prisons... it's unimaginable. Guards in every corner, at every cell. It would be to go up against an army."

"You don't have to go up against an army if they never detect you as a threat. You could have your family back. We could help you get to Plasmius, Danny. Let us help you."

This time, it was Sam's turn to wonder if Danny had fallen asleep.


End file.
